On horseback as in life: stay centered for best results.

Why Snowboarding is Kinda, Sorta Like Jumping Horses

I had a lesson on Joe this week. It feels like it’s been weeks since it’s been warm enough for lessons. (That is because it has been.) But, at 12 whole degrees, we had a night that was “warm” enough for a ride. Joe and I are both out of shape, and we huffed and puffed our way through. He didn’t balk at any ground poles, which was great. However, he was really leaning on my inside aids, so we had to spend some time working on that. By the end of our half-hour lesson, we were both fairly sweaty so we took a nice long walk. Thankfully one of the very kind boarders let us use her cooler!

Little Joe being adorable, as per usual.

You know it’s cold when the snow comes inside the arena through the cracks in the door.

In other news, the Olympics are going on now! My friends and I had our Opening Ceremonies Party yesterday. It’s become a bit of a tradition, and we’ve basically been planning this one since the London Closing Ceremonies in 2012. Here is the cake I made (the flags were provided by my friend Michelle):

I’m really enjoying the snowboarding so far. I think this is partly because my brother used to be a competitive snowboarder so I understand a bit of what’s going on. Also, it has occurred to me that throwing those kinds of crazy tricks probably requires a similar brand of insanity to the kind that is needed to ride a thousand-pound animal over jumps. Plus, I just love the Olympics overall. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to eat some leftover cake while watching some of the world’s most athletic, in-shape people.